Dead Wrong

“You mustn’t contact them,” Millicent said.

“Don’t be silly,” Joa

Millicent took a deep breath. “Do you know anything about how Jea

“A little, I suppose,” Joa

“Troubled?” Millicent snorted derisively. “I’ll say it was troubled. Her father sexually abused her regularly from the time she was little. It’s her first conscious memory. When she finally got up nerve enough to tell her mother about what was going on, her mother called her a liar and threw her out of the house. Those people are monsters. The way they treated Jea

“Millicent,” Joa

“And I will be,” Millicent said at once. “It’ll take me a little while to cancel my appointments and make arrangements to close the clinic for the day, but I’ll be there as soon as I can. You say she’s at UMC? What’s her doctor’s name again? I’ll need to talk to him.”

“Waller. Dr. Grant Waller.”

“All right,” Millicent Ross said. “I’m on my way.”

After Millicent hung up, Joa

In the narrowly observed rules of medical treatment, Joa

“Has something happened?” Millicent demanded as soon as she heard Joa

“No,” Joa

“Love is love,” Millicent snapped back, her voice suddenly cold. “Age has nothing to do with it.”

“How much older?” Joa

“Several years,” Millicent conceded reluctantly. “My daughter’s a year older than Jea

“Actually it does,” Joa

Suddenly Millicent grasped where this was going. “If I were to show up claiming to be her mother, how would he know the difference?”

“Exactly,” Joa

“No,” Millicent Ross agreed. “I certainly didn’t. Thank you, Joa

Joa

“No, you don’t,” Joa

“I’m coming as soon as I can,” Millicent said. “Will you still be at the hospital when I get there?”

“Maybe,” Joa

“I understand,” Millicent returned.

“But there is one other thing we need,” Joa

Joa

“I don’t know for sure, but performing the exam is the only way to confirm whether or not she was. And it’s also the only way to gather possible DNA evidence and photograph her wounds for the legal record. Without a signed consent form, that isn’t going to happen.”

“Believe me,” Millicent said determinedly. “There will be a signed consent form.”

“And insist they photograph whatever bruising there is and also that they do scrapings from under her fingernails,” Joa

“I’ll be able to handle it,” Millicent Ross returned.

Relieved that she had done as much as she could, both for Jea

“I’m investigating that beating victim who was brought in early this morning,” she said, showing the clerk her ID. “I need the names of all the attendants who were on duty at the time she was admitted.”

“I can get you a list if you like,” the clerk said with a shrug. “But you see that guy over there-the tall ski

“Yes.”

“His name’s Horatio. Horatio Gonzales. He’s pulling a double shift right now. I’m pretty sure he was here overnight.”

Horatio Gonzales was indeed tall-six-four at least. And he wasn’t exactly ski

“Were you here this morning when that beating victim was dropped off?”

His dark eyes went even darker. “I was here,” he said. “She was hurt real bad.”

“What about the three men who brought her in. You saw them?”

“I guess,” he said.

“What can you tell me about them?”

Horatio shrugged. “Not much,” he said.

“Do you think they were the ones who did it?”

This time there was a spark of real anger when he spoke. “No way!” he declared.

“But if they weren’t responsible, why didn’t they stay around after they dropped her off?”

“Why do you think?” he said. “They didn’t speak much English. Maybe they were illegal or something. Or maybe they didn’t have the right kind of insurance for their vehicle or the right kind of license. I’m sure they were scared. If they’d talked to a cop, even a little lady cop like you, they might have gotten in some kind of trouble.”

On most occasions a “little lady” comment like that would have sent Joa

“They wouldn’t have gotten in trouble with me,” she said. “That woman is a member of my department. They saved her life. All I want to do is thank them.”

That wasn’t entirely true, of course. Joa

Despite ten more minutes of questioning, Hector Gonzales was unable to recall anything of use. Looking at the list of names the clerk had given her left Joa